Reborn as the First Boss, Chapter 56

Chapter 56 – Decisions

We might have gotten all the way to the seventh floor on the first day, but our pace slowed dramatically as we went down. Only to be expected, given how the seventh-floor boss was Level 22, and we were only Level 23. Things slowed down more after that. The second day, we barely managed to finish the tenth floor in a day’s work, deciding to set up camp just inside the eleventh floor.

The tenth-floor boss, Ghoulmistress Glinda had been Level 28 Witch. A far cry from the Level 20 Witch she was supposed to be, but keeping with what we could tell the new pattern of the dungeon looked to be. Thankfully, her fight was much the same as what the Adventurer’s Guild had reported, so there weren’t too many surprises, other than her increased strength.

Ghostly Forceblade

Type

Exotic

Rank

Uncommon

Price

5000 gp

Weight

0 kg

Damage

STR+DEX

Critical

x2

Range

N/A

Damage Type

Force

This blade is a well-made item, forged by a master craftsman. It has been enchanted to be used against (or by) incorporeal creatures. However, its ghostly nature causes it to become weightless.

Exotic Weapon – This weapon is far removed from normal weapons of its type, requiring a separate skill proficiency to use. Nonproficient wielders have a 50% penalty on their attacks, parries, and blocks with this weapon.

Ghostly Weapon – This weapon can be used against incorporeal foes without penalty, and does full damage to them. This weapon can be used by incorporeal creatures without penalty, doing DEX+CHA damage, and dealing full damage to corporeal foes.

Forceblade – This weapon’s blade is made from pure magical force, and ignores defenses against piercing or slashing damage. Ignores 50% of a creature’s Defense. Creatures immune to force damage, or to magic, are immune to this weapon’s damage. This weapon cannot be used in an area under an antimagic field.

The fighting was hard, but it wasn’t like we weren’t getting rewarded. All of my pets had upgrades to pieces of their gear by now, mostly with their weapons. Thanks to that, we all had backup weapons, which I applied the [Ghost Touch Weapon] ritual to. The ritual made the weapons seem hazy, and translucent when you drew them from the sheath. So far, so good, right? Wrong.

We’d all used some type of blade for the ritual, but the result was that they all changed into the same type of weapon, a ‘forceblade’. Basically, each one had a hilt about right for a bastard sword, but no crossguard, and a blade of magical force extending to the same length as a bastard sword, but the whole thing was weightless. Because of that, and its other properties, it was classed as an ‘Exotic’ weapon, which basically meant that, in order to actually wield the thing correctly, we would need to spend a skill point learning the weapon’s traits. Sure, it was a powerful weapon, and much better than trying to use normal steel against a ghost, but skill points were very precious, if you weren’t cheating by using rituals to steal skills, that is.

Of course, it wasn’t like we didn’t have some skill points to spend. We’d managed to claw our way to Level 27, thanks to fighting creatures at or above our level. Everyone knew that the Voice of the World rewarded you more when you fought strong foes or took on more difficult tasks, allowing people to level up more quickly. However, when fighting powerful foes, it sometimes only took a single mistake to bring about disaster, and most people didn’t get respawns. There was a reason why most people in Windwater weren’t past Level 20, after all.

My Spellshooter and Demon’s Due both gained new abilities as I passed Level 25, as well. The Spellshooter got [Undead Bane], which did double damage to undead. Nothing fancy, but I was all for it. Demon’s Due, on the other hand, gained the [Death Bullets] ability, basically, if I paid ten times the MP cost, I could make my magic bullets into Deadly Bullets, which were useless against undead, and did only half their normal damage to living creatures, but that was CON damage, not HP damage. A single point of CON damage reduced a creature’s HP by 100, and did it in a way that a simple healing spell wouldn’t help, so I was beyond thrilled by that.

“Mistress, what skills are you going to pick?”

I stroked Jewell’s hair as I considered the answer to the question. We’d all needed a nice, relaxing bath after the events of the day, both to clean up, and to take the edge off, so we could properly think about how to spend the points. Unless there was a desperate need for a skill, it wasn’t a good idea to go picking them without taking the time to actually think, and preferably discuss with others, after all.

“Well, that’s a good question, Jewell,” I sighed. “I have twelve points to spend, but it seems that we’re starting to get to territory where the skills are starting to specialize more than I’d like. Some of that can be combatted with stealing skills from others, of gaining them in some other way, but that poses its own set of issues.”

I brought up the list of my available skills. As expected, there were two new ones for my Race, both Classes, and my Profession, and each of those eight skills cost two points each, meaning I couldn’t take all of them just yet. Plus, there was the [Exotic Weapon (Forceblade) Proficiency] skill in General skills that I needed to have if I was going to wield that [Ghostly Forceblade] well.

“Hmm. The [Exotic Weapon (Forceblade) Proficiency] skill raises an interesting question,” I said.

“Because what we have is a [Ghostly Forceblade], not a simple [Forceblade], so you’re thinking that we can find other weapons like this, out there?” Astruth asked. “Perhaps ones that have better armor penetration, or other energy types?”

“My thoughts exactly,” I nodded. “Might be worth looking into. And, depending on how much we use them, there might even be some interesting bonuses when we eventually hit Tier 2.”

Linette blinked. “Mistress, do you really think that we’ll rise so high? Even the soldiers of the Barony rarely get to Level 30. Granted, the years of relative peace have done something to help that, but to truly rise in levels, you have to go to where the stronger creatures are, or fight in many battles during a war. It might mean giving up on the Barony, if you want to go adventuring on the regular.”

Jewel frowned. “Well, titles like Hero are being given out again. Whenever that happens, war and conflict are sure to follow. The Voice of the World doesn’t give those titles out without reason. Which means that something is bound to happen. Probably the Great Demon Emperor making another assault upon the world.”

“I don’t know, sister,” Angelina said. “People say the Great Demon Emperor hasn’t been seen off the Shadowed Continent in almost a thousand years. It is always some general of his that sets out to conquer part of the world. Maybe he doesn’t actually want to conquer things?”

“Actually,” I said, drawing on Mhyrsha’s memories, “it is probably more complicated than that. Demons are not exactly known for ‘playing nice’ and getting along well with others, even at the best of times. The most powerful ones are often driven by ambition and are only loyal so long as it suits them. If the Great Demon Emperor has a profession that is anything like most ‘ruling’ professions, then much of his power may be constrained when he is outside his borders.”

Astruth nodded slowly. “Meaning that the reason the Great Demon Emperor hasn’t ended this whole war business is because he is guarding himself against attacks by the Demon Kings and Demon Lords. I’ve heard that the Shadowed Continent is always beset by conflict, with the demons infighting between each other. So, the invasions of the rest of the world are just, what, ways for the Great Demon Emperor to give his people a break, and maybe see if the Hero will get rid of some of his more powerful lieutenants?”

Angelina looked to me. “What about you, Mistress? Has your power dropped any, since we left the Barony?”

“No, but my Baroness title is different from a profession, like Demon King. The title offers me bonuses, giving me a pittance of XP whenever my people do battle in my name, but it would take a mortal lifetime to gain serious levels with just that. From my understanding, the ‘ruling’ professions actually increase your power when you are inside your realm, and surrounded by your subjects. Leave the realm, or be caught with no supporters nearby, and you ‘just’ have your own power. But when you’re potentially talking about a swing of hundreds, maybe thousands of points? That makes a big difference, especially if you’re used to that level of power. It would be like going from riding a champion warhorse to an old mule one bad winter from death.”

“So, political lessons aside,” Jewell chuckled, “what skills are you going to pick, Mistress?”

“I might as well show you,” I grinned, and waved a hand to conjure a blue box where everyone could see.

Racial Skills (Greater Succubus):

Desire Reflection – Allows you to project a glamour that makes you look like a viewer’s most desirable romantic partner.

Improved Pheromones – Pheromones now work on males and females. (Costs 2 skill points)

Class Skills (Mind Sorceress):

Mindnet – Able to use Minor Telepathy to set up a communication net with up to (Level/5) other people. (Costs 2 skill points)

Class Skills (Spellshooter):

Dispelling Shot – Use magic bullet to dispel spells currently in effect by paying (Caster’s Casting stat + Caster’s Level + MP Spent) MP. (Costs 2 Skill points)

Profession Skills (Courtesan):

Improved Carnal Arts – Able to apply Carnal Arts skill to more creature types, providing an expanded knowledge of techniques. (Costs 2 Skill Points)

Entrancing Moves – Creatures who are attracted to the Courtesan suffer a 20% penalty on all actions against her (including attacks), so long as the Courtesan wears no more than light armor. (Costs 2 Skill Points)

General Skills:

Exotic Weapon (Forceblade) Proficiency – Proficient in the use of forceblades.

“As you can see, I decided to spread things out a bit. [Desire Reflection] is somewhat useful, but I never really needed it before. However, of the one-point skills I still have available, after purchasing the Forceblade proficiency, it is probably the most generally useful, so long as I’m able to get in and seduce someone.

“Which leads into why I also picked [Improved Pheromones] and [Improved Carnal Arts]. Both skills improve things I’ve used quite a bit, already, leaving me with fewer gaps in my defenses that someone could strike for. Especially when [Entrancing Moves] is added in. The idea is to make it as hard as possible for anyone to actually attack me.

“And then there’s the final two skills, [Mindnet] and [Dispelling Shot]. Nothing really to say about them, honestly. [Mindnet] will let us work together tactically, even while in enemy territory, or while engaged in stealth. On the other hand, [Dispelling Shot] does just what it says, blasting spells to keep them from going off, or end them if I catch them first.”

Linette nodded slowly. “A powerful selection of skills, though less combat-focused and more on the ‘utility’ side of things, I see. I will keep that in mind with my own skill picks, Mistress. What should we do about tomorrow’s plans, though? If things continue on as they have, I doubt we’ll be able to keep pace with how fast the dungeon is levelling. We got four levels in three floors, but that last boss was still a level beyond us. By the time we get through the remaining five floors, we’ll probably be facing a Level 38 Lich with who knows what kinds of boosts or bonuses. Do you really think we’ll gain the ten or so levels we would need to really make a go of it?”

“I don’t know, Linette,” I said, shrugging. “We might, or we might not. The [Ghostly Forceblades] will be a major boon for dealing with the incorporeal foes. I only know what the Guild has on the lich, though, so it is likely they will have some kind of cheat on them, even before the boost. We’ll just have to see. Still, depending on what happens, we just might be able to get there, soon enough. Think about the stir that will cause when we return from abroad, all in our high 30s or low 40s, making us the strongest group in Windwater!”

“We have to get there, first, Mistress,” the Maid said, reproachfully. But I could see a smile at the corner of her lips, so I knew she was thinking about how fun it would be, just like me.